• Question: How does some metals not melt in lava?

    Asked by ImtiazA on 14 Jul 2023.
    • Photo: Bruno Silvester Lopes

      Bruno Silvester Lopes answered on 14 Jul 2023:

      Tungsten titanium, iridium, iron alloys, osmium, nickel alloys, aluminum oxide, mullite, and silicon nitride all have high melting points than lava so they can’t melt…what an excellent question!

    • Photo: Kip Heath

      Kip Heath answered on 21 Jul 2023:

      As Bruno said! The high melting points mean that these metals are really useful in certain situations (e.g. tungsten is used in lightbulbs – it’s the bit in older non-LED lightbulbs that lights up. If tungsten melted it wouldn’t be very useful)

Comments